


vorfreude

by langmaor



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: F/F, Femslash February, Femslash February 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 13:39:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5969179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/langmaor/pseuds/langmaor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>on a fateful night she came to me;<br/>a mistress cloaked in mystery-</p>
            </blockquote>





	vorfreude

**Author's Note:**

> vorfreude  
> (n) the joyful, intense anticipation that comes from imagining future pleasures.

The comforting sounds of breathing, coming from both horses and pegasi alike, were more a blessing than anything for Vanessa, who had quietly snuck in the makeshift building in the dead of night.

She knew tomorrow would be the end of their fighting - a battle against the demon king, no less. Nervousness had coiled around her midsection, squeezing and strangling her until it had been nigh impossible to let sleep console her.

She had wrapped a cloak around her thin frame, slipping away to the stables. The realization that she should be asleep had only stirred her toward further wakefulness until she was buzzing with energy and no way to expend it.

The pegasi were asleep in their corner. She edged toward Titania, rested herself against her, curling into herself. It wasn't… that she was expecting them to lose, not at all.

However she could not shake off her anxiety. Mortal foes could be pierced through, cleaved in half, shot at. A demon king…

She sighed, closing her eyes. Sleep eluded her, leaving her in a purgatory state were she was not awake nor was she asleep. Perhaps she was dreaming.

The bale of hay a little way off seemed to move, and tired, she wondered if she would have to add hallucinations to her growing list of problems.

Then the bale of hay spoke, and Vanessa nearly died.

"Hello, Titania."

"It's Vanessa," she corrected absently, eyes round as plates. "Are you a god?"

"Very close, Titania."

The bale of hay moved again, to reveal - to reveal… not the benevolent light of a god, but a head of purple hair, mussed up with hay.

_"Lute!?"_

The mage stood up, brushing stray hay off her robes, and took a seat beside her.

"You do not seem to be in good spirits. May I help?"

Vanessa felt like she really was dreaming.

"What were you doing inside the hay in the stables at this hour, Lute?!"

The mage replied, still holding her poker face. "Pegasus observation."

"Was… was there a reason you couldn't do this during the daytime?"

"I have been doing in the daytime as well," she replied, the slightest tinge of annoyance slipping into her tone. "However, as we will be parting soon, I decided to forego sleep and broaden my observations."

Vanessa sighed. She would most likely never get used to the lengths Lute would go to for knowledge.

Lute continued. "As the pegasi are uneasy around me, I elected to conceal myself in hay, which I have noticed they do not have an interest in ingesting. However this has been made unnecessary by your presence, which calms the beasts, and has relieved me from my prickly throne."

"I see," Vanessa replied.

"May I ask why you are not asleep? My notes confirm the fact that you are usually an early sleeper."

The pegasus knight shifted to lay her head on Lute's shoulder. "It's… nerves, I think."

"Please, do not be afraid. I will be in the final battle tomorrow."

Vanessa admired how utterly confident she was, how certain that she would not lose. Her poise, her composure were always so perfect and her ability to keep them that way seemed almost superhuman to the knight.

"I know, Lute. But I'm also worried about… what after? We've been fighting so long… what will we all do once it's over?"

"You will most likely return to rejoin Frelia's forces and aid in reconstruction."

Vanessa laughed. "Always so to the point, aren't you?"

Lute remained silent, shifting to allow Vanessa more comfort.

Vanessa broke the silence. "This war… shouldn't have happened." She placed her hand on Lute's, threading their fingers together and squeezing for comfort. "But… it wasn't all bad. So many of us have found people we want to spend the rest of our lives with, people we will treasure as friends forever."

Lute nodded. "A silver lining to every cloud."

The minutes passed and Vanessa stayed silent, something that puzzled Lute into speaking.

"And you… will marry the prince, and return to Frelia as princess, yes?"

 _"What?"_ Vanessa bit down on her tongue as both pegasi and horses whined their discomfort and the sudden noise.

"What are you saying-? Prince Innes would never-"

"He will, if you wish him to do it."

Something told the pegasus knight that the asking would not be done entirely with the prince's free will.

"You can't force people into marrying, Lute. Besides-"

"Anyone you want, Vanessa. Think of it as a… parting gift. There won't be any force involved."

Lute's smiled looked almost demonic in the dark of the stables.

Vanessa drew a sharp breath. "Really?"

"I don't make empty promises," Lute replied. She had studied berserk staffs extensively when Natasha had joined them, and as a sage, had used them herself. She knew the principle, had extricated it long ago, and she also knew how she could make one from scratch, with a… few modifications.

The pegasus knight sat up, turning to face the sage.

"Then... I want you," she said.

Lute's head whipped toward her, a quiet "what?" hissed through her teeth.

"Do you not want to… stay with me?"

"But you have always… always loved the prince!" Lute spoke, ignoring her sentence altogether.

"I… did love him. But my feelings have changed; can you not believe me when I say that I love you?" she questioned, a little frustrated at the sage's behaviour.

Lute was squeezing her hands together, pressing on Vanessa's as a result. "Can feelings that sparked during the course of a few tumultuous encounters really overpower your love of years?"

"Yes, Lute. Why are we even having this conversation? I thought I told you I wanted to be with you."

Lute inhaled sharply before saying anything. "I… am most likely jealous of him," she confessed.

Before Vanessa could say anything she continued.

"He... can give you everything I can only dream of. He can make you a princess, offer you an entire country, father your children. While I… if you are with me, you will be talked about unfavourably. I do not have the money, the position, or the privileges of being a man, all of which he does.

"Objectively speaking, it would be best for you to go to him."

"Stop that," she said sharply. "Do you really think I'd go and preen myself for any man with money and a house to his name?"

"I don't mean to insult you!" Lute exclaimed in as loud a voice as the stables allowed.

Titania nudged her rider with her head, a small action that broke the tension in the atmosphere. They both exhaled then.

"I beg your forgiveness." Lute spoke first. "I did not mean to insinuate that. What I meant is-"

Vanessa put a finger to the other woman's lips. "Hush. I know. But I do want you to know something."

Lute shifted to face her then, apologetic eyes looking at her, as if bracing herself.

"I did love Prince Innes. He was the first man I ever loved. But I love you as well, Lute. The prince may be able to give me a whole lot of things but - he can never love me back, at least not the way you can and do."

She gripped the sage's hand firmly. She had spoken the truth - Innes, if he took a wife, would do so for purely political reasons, would bed her solely to produce an heir, and would love her only to be an example to his country.

Lute looked startled, and somewhat ready to cry.

"I was ready - you know? I was ready to give you whoever you wanted - whoever you thought would make you happy - and disappear. Are you certain you wish me to remain by your side?"

She smiled fondly. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Lute moved forward to embrace her then, and Vanessa returned it with fervour, dropping a small kiss on her lips.

She asked, when her head was comfortably rested on the sage's lap, "Lute… all those things we did… Did not the fact that I was doing them with you not assure you of anything?"

Lute flushed. "Well… I have heard of many soldiers taking lovers during war and returning to their spouses afterward. Artur said - anyhow, I assumed this was something like that."

Vanessa winced. "Really? What did Artur say?"

The sage shifted her eyes, dodging Vanessa's gaze. "The prince and he are… involved as we are," she finally admitted.

Her eyes widened until she felt sure they would pop out their sockets, "Prince Innes?" she breathed out.

Lute shook her head. "I speak of the Prince of Jehanna."

She took a deep breath. "That… I was not expecting."

Lute smiled at her. "You would be surprised at how many like us there are," she said.

"Tell me more," she said, curious. Was this only for the wartime, or would they continue like this even after the war had ended?

"The myrmidon and the dancer, Marisa and Tethys," Lute began, "Princesses Eirika and Tana, Artur and Prince Joshua… there are a lot," Lute suddenly changed the topic, awkward enough that Vanessa caught the pause.

"I have a feeling you were going to say, 'Prince Innes and…'"

Lute sighed. "I cannot conceal anything from you; I was about to say Prince Innes and Gerik, the mercenary."

Vanessa let out a low whistle. It would be lying to say she was completely unaffected by the news, however she was nowhere nearly as devastated as she would have been mere months ago.

"Didn't think he'd go for that type," she murmured. It was enough to get Lute giggling, which made Vanessa break out as well.

After they had both calmed down, Vanessa still with her head in Lute's lap, Lute now leaning against Titania, the pegasus knight reached a hand up where Lute caught it in one of her own.

'Tomorrow… we will win. And then we shall not part, but continue our travels together. It sounds nice."

Lute made a sound of agreement. "I was going to slaughter the demon king anyways, but now I shall do it twice as fast hoping I can ride away with you sooner," she declared.

Vanessa laughed. "But you know, since we are to remain together anyways, you had no need to lose sleep and suffer the hay for pegasus observation."

Lute's eyes widened comically in realization.

"Shit."

Vanessa burst out laughing, but stopped to face something rather scary.

It was the figure of Titania, angry at having her sleep so repeatedly interrupted, looming over them.

Vanessa only laughed harder.

**Author's Note:**

> well! i started writing this on the first of february, so thankfully i can tag it femslash feb lol. it's my first february work. lute and vanessa have always been so cute together for me, and while they came out much different from what i thought i'd write them as, i'm still pretty okay with the result. never regret the yuri.  
> if this is garbage, lemme know.  
> planning on writing a marisa/tethys soon, halfway through a joshua/artur one. if u got requests, shoot a comment!


End file.
